Chapter 85 Aria
The bathroom was empty and for a second I almost turned around and pretended I’d forgotten something in my locker. Sienna had texted me earlier asking if we could talk, and I’d assumed it was about homework or Luca.
I pushed the door open fully and stepped inside, letting it close behind me with a soft thud. Sienna was at the far sink, her head bent and braids falling over her shoulders. Her backpack sat on the counter beside her, unzipped in a way that looked careless except nothing about Sienna was ever careless.
“Hey,” I said, trying to sound normal.
Sienna glanced up with a small smile that didn’t even reach the halfway point to her eyes. It was the kind of smile she wore when she was pretending everything was fine and hoped I wouldn’t look too closely. Except now I was looking too closely, because her hand was trembling just enough for me to notice when she reached for her bag.
I opened my mouth to ask what was going on because with Sienna something clearly was but the words froze when I spotted a flash of silver tucked halfway under a notebook in her bag.
A blade.
It was small and terrifying in how much it didn’t fit inside the version of Sienna I’d always known. My heart thumped hard enough to make my throat tighten but I tried to keep my face still.
Sienna followed my gaze before I could drag it away. Her fingers snapped around the zipper, shoving the bag closed so quickly.
“Aria,” she said quietly, and that alone scared me more than the blade. Sienna was never quiet. She was bold even when she didn’t mean to be, the sort of person who filled a room with her voice and her energy without trying. Now she looked like she wanted to disappear.
I took a slow breath, steadying myself. “What was that?”
Sienna pressed her lips together, her eyes flicking to the door like she expected someone to walk in at any second. The silence stretched, heavy and uncomfortable, pressing between us like a wall.
“It’s not what you think,” she finally said. Her voice was like she’d practiced the sentence before. “I’m not going to hurt anyone.”
“That’s not really comforting,” I whispered.
She winced. “I know.”
I stepped closer. “Why do you have that? And don’t say it’s for art class, because unless you’re carving stone now—”
“It’s not for art,” she cut in with a humorless shaky laugh.
I waited.
She rubbed her palms against her jeans. “Things are happening. Stuff I can’t ignore anymore and I know you’re going to think I’m crazy, but I swear I’m not. I swear there’s a reason.”
My pulse thumped again. “A reason for a silver blade?”
She swallowed. “A reason to stay safe.”
I wasn’t sure which scared me more. What she knew or what she wasn’t saying.
“Safe from what?” I asked.
Sienna’s eyes darted to mine with something that looked too close to fear. “Aria just leave it alone, okay? Please, I don’t want you mixed up in this.”
Mixed up in what? My mind raced through every possibility, none of them making sense.
I gently nudged her bag aside so she couldn’t hide behind it. “You’re my best friend,” I said softly. “You don’t get to drop a bomb like that and expect me to pretend I didn’t see anything.”
Her jaw clenched. “I didn’t want to drag you into it.”
“Too late.”
Sienna paused. “Aria if I tell you, you’ll look at me different.”
“Try me,” I whispered.
She hesitated, then slowly unzipped the bag again. “I found it,” she said. “In the woods behind my house.”
“That still doesn’t explain why you’re carrying it.”
Her throat bobbed. “Because someone left it there on purpose and there were dep footprints.”
A chill crawled up my spine. “Did you tell anyone?”
“No.”
Her eyes shuttered. “I didn’t know who to trust.”
That stung more than I expected.
“You can trust me,” I said, more firmly than before. “You know you can.”
Sienna closed her eyes like the words hurt. “I wanted to. I do. I just didn’t want you dragged into something dangerous.”
“Dangerous how?”
She shook her head. “I don’t know yet. But someone was watching my house last night.”
My heart lurched. “What?”
“Across the street.”
“Sienna…” I breathed.
“What if it’s connected?” she whispered. “The footprints, the blade and whoever that was.”
I felt the room tilt slightly. “Why would someone be watching you?”
She didn’t answer. Her face had gone pale, and her hands were clenched so tightly around the counter her knuckles were white.
“Sienna,” I said softly, stepping closer, “you should’ve told me sooner.”
“I was scared.”
“I know. But being alone won’t fix it.”
She let out a shaky breath. “I don’t want you hurt.”
“I’m already in this. You don’t get to face whatever this is by yourself.”
“You promise you won’t freak out?” she asked.
I nodded and Sienna slowly opened the bag again, this time lifting the blade with careful fingers. It was the length of my hand but the silver gleamed unnaturally under the bathroom lights.
“I didn’t touch the prints,” she murmured. “I just took this because it felt targeted.”
My throat tightened. “Like someone wanted you to find it.”
She nodded. “Exactly.”
“We should tell someone,” I said immediately, the instinct kicking in before fear could suffocate it.
Sienna shook her head fast. “No, not yet. If I’m wrong, they’ll think I’m paranoid. And if I’m right, I don’t know who’s involved.”
“You’re not handling this alone,” I repeated again.
“I’m not asking you to fix it,” she countered. “I don’t want to lose you over it.”
I reached for her hand, squeezing it tight. “You’re not losing me.”
“But everything feels like it’s falling apart,” she said.
“Then we’ll hold it together,” I replied. “Even if we have no idea what we’re doing.”
A tiny smile ghosted across her lips. “I’m scared, Aria.”
“I know.”
“And I feel stupid for carrying that thing around.”
“You’re not stupid.”
She exhaled. “Stay with me a little longer?”
“Always. Whatever this is,” I said softly, “we’ll figure it out together.”
For the first time since I’d walked in, Sienna looked like she believed me. And maybe the darkness creeping into her life hadn’t completely swallowed the light. And as terrifying as everything was, I knew I wasn’t letting her face it alone.
AUTHOR’S NOTE:
You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to drop this chapter on you. Sienna’s secrets? The blade? Aria finally stepping into the mess instead of backing away? Yeah I know you’re reeling. Thank you for sticking with these girls through every twist cause this moment changes everything and the storm is only getting darker from here.
Grab water, breathe, and get ready because the next chapter is going to shake things up even harder. See you there, my lovelies. You deserve all the hugs today too🫂💋.